Mother’s Day is coming. Need some ideas? With a little thought and planning you can give the moms in your life something meaningful without spending a small fortune.

Potted flowers

Purchase an inexpensive clay pot. Have the kids paint it or put hand prints on it. Put some potting soil in. Purchase a 6-pack of annuals and plant them. It will cost around $5 and make a MUCH bigger impression than the $25 hanging basket.

Good at woodworking?

Build her something small. Has she been wanting a spice rack? How about a jewelry box? A window box? My dad built a K-Cup holder for my mom for their coffee maker. If you’re talented with woodworking you can probably make something small and meaningful, inexpensively.

Spa kit

Make a CD of Mom’s favorite music. Buy an inexpensive (I’m talking $1) candle. Feeling ambitious? Make some bath salts. Not feeling ambitious? Buy some. If you wanted … you could even buy her a towel and embroider it. A fun idea – buy some body lotion and re-label it with something cute or witty.

I’ve found some beautiful ideas around the Internet lately that would make lovely gifts on Mothers Day too ….

Embroidered Scarf from The Purl Bee

Handkerchief Sachets from Skip To My Lou

Pleated Pouch from Skip To My Lou

Handmade Photo Cube from Make and Takes

Homemade Bath Tea from Make and Takes

Rice Pillow from Wise Craft

Do you have any good homemade gift ideas for Mom? Leave your ideas and links in the comments!

Why I do what I do ~ Me: “Chloe, time is running out.” Chloe: “It’s OK Mom. I will catch it.”

p.s. In case you were wondering … this is my 300th post!
first photo credit: love♡janine,  second photo credit: SpecialKRB

third photo credit: acme

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Related posts:

1. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
2. Homemade Crayons
3. Homemade Dora Backpack

I finally got tired of looking at my Fall/Winter cloth napkins this week. I pulled out my enormous stash of fabric and began looking for spring-looking scraps that were big enough for napkins. I found some and began cutting them out (Word for the wise – as soon as you set your rotary cutter down, close it. I sliced my thumb making these napkins. Ick.). Almost immediately, I noticed they weren’t all going to be the same size because the scraps weren’t all the same size. It didn’t matter to me. I made them all the same length and then varied the width. After all, they’re just napkins. I sewed them up in one nap time.

Once I was finished, I was stumped with what to do with them. When folded they would all be different sizes and wouldn’t stack nicely, like the Fall ones did. I didn’t want to just cram them in the basket – they sit in the middle of the table. I’ve been wanting to use napkin rings for a while, so I thought now was the perfect opportunity. I haven’t used them all this time because the only set I have are fancy-looking, and we aren’t fancy meal-time people. Also, I  was interested in having three unique napkin rings so each family member had their own napkin. So … here’s what I did:

For each napkin ring you’ll need:

• (1) 1.5X6″ piece interfacing
• (1) 4×6″ piece of fabric
• Needle & thread/Sewing machine
• Iron/Ironing board

Bring your interfacing and fabric to your ironing board. Fold the piece of fabric in half lengthwise and press it with the iron. Open it back up and on the wrong side, fuse the interfacing to one side along the center crease. There should be another 1/2″ of fabric sticking out on the other side of it. Fold that little edge over onto the interfacing and iron it. Now, fold the other side over a 1/2″ and then the whole thing in half along the original crease. Iron it. It should fold like this:

Sew along each edge, lengthwise. You can finish off the raw edges if you want to – I didn’t. Next, sew the ends together to form a ring. Be sure the ring is the size you want. The 6″ length gives you some room. I think mine are about 5 inches. Then trim very closely to your stitching and turn it right-side out.

A few months ago I inherited hundreds of old buttons from my dear grandmother that passed away. In her memory I’ve been trying to use things of hers in my home. The buttons on my rings are from that collection. Another idea to personalize them would be to embroider them. Although, if you use a different fabric for each person, then that may be all the personalizing you need.

Why I do what I do ~ I was letting Chloe pick out a movie to watch the other day. She told me she wanted The Ampully. I must have asked her to repeat it 3 times and I still didn’t get it. Her speech is very clear now so it’s unusual that I’d have a difficult time understanding. Noticing that I wasn’t getting it, she began to explain the movie and I immediately understood. The Ampully = The Ant Bully. I must say it all together quickly, so it sounds like one weird word to her.

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Related posts:

1. Week Of Frugal Fall Ideas: Napkins
2. Homemade Draft Guard
3. A Sort-Of Homemade Princess Costume

Holidays can be difficult when you are living frugal or you’re on a strict budget. Your spouse expects things, your kids expect things, and the commercial mentality of our culture feeds those expectations. Easter is coming up, and while it’s not nearly as expensive as Christmas, it still carries it’s own presumptions.

I try my best to keep my perspective about holidays. Being the mom in the house, I tend to set the tone for how festive we get. We love to celebrate so it’s easy to let things get out of hand. For Easter – well, we all need new Easter outfits and we also need to have an Easter basket full of goodies for our daughter when she wakes up, we really should do an Easter egg hunt and we absolutely cannot go without the traditional Ham dinner. Before you assume I’m suggesting you get rid of all that, let me tell you that we do almost all of those things in our home. However, we keep things in perspective in relation to our budget and the meaning of the holiday.

Like last year, Chloe is getting a homemade Easter dress. (It’s actually from the same pattern as last year too) Some day she may resent that, but she’s almost 4 and she still thinks I’m awesome – so I’m going with it. The dress is made entirely (with the exception of the zipper) of hand-me-down fabric, much of it from my dear grandmother that passed away in December. The dress is meaningful in more ways than one. And – Chloe adores it.

David and I have never bought new clothes for Easter (as adults). We just scrounge up whatever pastel articles of clothing we have and go with it. We’ve never really minded.

We keep the Easter basket thing pretty low-key. This year I’m going to sew her a matching purse to go with her dress (sorry, no picture, I haven’t gotten to it yet!). I plan to use the purse as her Easter basket. We’ll get her one or two treats and also the bunny I sewed for her (remember last year’s Kung-Fu bunny? I am really not brilliant at sewing animals. I’m thinking I should stick to clothes).

We always have a ham dinner for Easter but we usually eat it as a family at home. For quite a few years now we’ve had Easter dinner with my side of the family and we’ve each shared a little of the expense and preparation. I’m excited to have a chance to share it with my husband’s side of the family this year.

All of those things are fun and I look forward to them. I get all excited sewing Chloe’s dress. All those things – aren’t the focus though. The big deal for Easter in our family – and everything that day revolves around it – is that Jesus is alive. Much of our day is spent at our church and all the celebrating we do is in that context.

When holidays are celebrated for their meaning rather than for personal enjoyment alone it adds something wonderful to them and makes the other things seem more like an added bonus instead of the main event.

This is what my family does. How does your family celebrate Easter? Have you found any ways to tone down some of the commercialism and spend a little less?

~This post is linked in with Kingdom First Mom’s Easter Eggstravaganza~

Why I do what I do ~ I could be fueled for six months by the look on my daughter’s face the first time she tried on her dress and looked in the mirror. I sew her things, hoping for exactly that moment.

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Related posts:

1. Homemade Dora Backpack
2. Good Reads: Great Perspective
3. A Sort-Of Homemade Princess Costume

We all know the benefits of keeping the cold air out of your home during the heating season. It’s pretty much common sense that if you have cool drafts coming in then your furnace/wood stove/heat source is going to have to run more often.

My house is drafty and poorly-insulated.We have a programmable thermostat to make the best use of our heat. We have sealed our windows with plastic and put weather-stripping in the door casings. However, there is still a pesky draft that seeps in under the front door. Right now, my solution looks like this – it’s a rolled up blanket.

In the past I’ve also used a rolled-up towel. They both work alright. However, I have slowly been on a quest to make things in my house look more “on purpose” rather than haphazard. So, I decided to make an on-purpose draft guard for my front door. Here’s what I did:

I used:

• (1) 10×36″ rectangle of fabric
• (1) 4×14″ rectangle of fabric
• 3/4 cup dried beans
• polyester fiber filling
• sewing machine

Begin by sewing over the edge of the large rectangle, lengthwise about 1-1/2 inches. Sew one end closed and leave the other open. Now sew along the other side of the tiny tube you just made about 1/4″ in from the fold.

Using a funnel, pour 1/4 cup dried beans down the tube you’ve created.

Pin them loosely in place and sew the little bean chamber closed. Repeat this twice, or however many times it takes to nearly fill the tube.

Sew it closed and leave an open gap of at least 2 inches at the end.

Now, fold the long raw edge over to meet the bean-filled side’s tiny edge (the fabric should be wrong-side out at this point). Sew one end closed (not the end with the 2 inches slack) and all the way up the side. I have no idea why I didn’t take a picture of this step. I don’t feel like I’m explaining it well!

Now the fun part, turn it right-side out. It will be a little tight but doable. Once it’s all turned, begin filling it. I used a rolling pin to force the filling down to the bottom. Try to fill it somewhat evenly and squish it around with your hands if you need to.

Ok, set that piece down and make a loop for the end with the other rectangle of fabric. Simply fold the top and bottom edges to the middle and then fold the whole thing in half, creating a long band with the edges concealed (press it with an iron real quick to set it in place). Now sew along both long edges. Keep the ends open and raw because they’ll just be hidden anyway.

Now pick up the main piece. You should have a little slack on the end. Fold the raw edges to the inside and insert the loop into that open end. Pin it in place and try it over your door handle to be sure it fits.

Now sew it closed and lay it on the floor. Much nicer than a rolled up blanket and you can throw it over the door handle if it gets in the way when you’re in and out of the door.

Now I need to paint the door!

Of course, I scavenged around my house for all the materials for this project so it didn’t cost me any money out of pocket.

Why I do what I do ~ This morning I gave Chloe some strawberries with her breakfast and then asked, “How are the berries?” Chloe replied, “I don’t have any berries, only strawberries.” I told her that strawberries are a kind of berry, like a blueberry or a blackberry or a raspberry, etc. She insisted they aren’t and never ended up believing me. I wondered if that would parallel conversations we’ll have in her teen years …

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Related posts:

1. Week Of Frugal Fall Ideas: Napkins
2. A Sort-Of Homemade Princess Costume
3. Making Throw Pillows

You may remember a while back I wrote about my un-decorated house. I lamented that there wasn’t much style or really any purposeful decorating in my home. I’ve done little things here and there but now that Christmas has passed I really have a chance to get things under control. I’m excited to share a few of the frugal projects I have planned.

I recently walked by my couch and noticed the seriously embarrassing condition of my couch pillows. Undecorated is fine but crummy-looking is not. Here is my horrid ‘before’ picture.

There is one blue pillow that has been ripped open and damaged beyond repair (the kids or the cat – who knows). The tan one has a run and is just limp and awful-looking. Upon further examination, I found that the seam of the tan one had opened up a 2-inch gap. This was convenient. I pulled the stuffing out of the gaping hole in the blue pillow and used it to fluff-up the tan one.

After gently pulling the snag back into place and sewing the tan pillow back up by hand it was as good as new. (Any ideas for what to do with the empty, damaged blue pillow?)

Thankfully, that pillow didn’t have to be the lone one. I got some very pretty fabric for Christmas that worked out beautifully. I sewed two more pillows to go along with the tan one. Much better.

Because the fabric was a gift and I had enough stuffing between what I had and what I reused, this project didn’t cost me any money. I love that. Sometimes if you just take a moment to think about reusing something (like the stuffing inside the blue pillow) you can make things last longer or avoid spending money you might have otherwise.

Why I do what I do ~ (Please keep in mind, this was written in the snowy winter – and also that we live hours from the ocean) We have a pop-up camper in the backyard that’s closed up right now. Chloe looked out the window and said, “Mama, the camper is just closed so the bugs and crabs and lobsters won’t get in.”

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Related posts:

1. Homemade Dora Backpack
2. Christmas Stockings
3. A Sort-Of Homemade Princess Costume

A couple weeks ago I shared the Map I made as part of a Christmas gift for Chloe. I had originally planned to give you step-by-step instructions for the Backpack but I ended up assembling it in more of a trial-and-error sort of way so it didn’t work out. I still want to share the final product with you though. It’s far from professional-looking but I don’t think she’ll care.

Here’s some basic info about it~

• I used fleece for the outer part (remember this fleece?). The lining is a light-purple cotton.
• There is an elasticized pocket on each side.
• The straps in the back were purchased (by the yard) for $1.25.
• The facial features are made from craft felt, just like the Map.
• The top flap stays closed with Velcro.
• What I wish I’d done: attached interfacing to stiffen it up.

Why I do what I do ~ I’ve found myself feeling sentimental lately. As I unpacked our Christmas decorations and began pulling out ornaments my eyes got misty. I pulled out “Our First Christmas 2002,” “Parents-to-be” and an ornament that Chloe ‘made’ with a picture of her at 18 months old. My Christmas tree is like a timeline of our little family. As I sit on the couch and look at the mismatched ornaments I can’t help but think it’s all going by too fast and feel overwhelmed by how blessed I am. I haven’t been posting as much lately – it’s because I’m soaking in every moment of this season. I hope you’re doing the same.

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Related posts:

1. No-Sew Felt Dora Map
2. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
3. Christmas Stockings

Last week in my Christmas stockings post I mentioned that I chose that particular pattern to simplify. I had a great idea for quilted stockings but it just wasn’t going to happen this year. I could have just admitted defeat at that point and abandoned the project but I didn’t. The original idea was good – sew Christmas stockings. I could still accomplish what I intended by choosing a simpler idea. I’m glad I did.

Making gifts is a great idea. It’s personal and frequently costs less. However, homemade gifts are time-consuming. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed with how much you’ve decided to take on then it might be time to rethink your strategy. Is there some way to accomplish your original idea in a simpler way?

Let me toss an idea out for you. Last year The Purl Bee posted a project journal for The Eleventh-Hour Scarf. I liked it so much that a year later, I went to their site to find it. It’s a knitted scarf that uses huge needles, thick yarn and a simple stitch. All of which, makes it come together quickly. I was just thinking I have some thick yarn stashed under my bed that might be just right. By choosing this project instead of a more complicated one, I can still give a homemade gift without it being a burden.

Do you have any projects that come together quickly and beautifully? Have you chosen to simplify your gift-giving this holiday season?

Why I do what I do ~ You know you’ve been studying phonics when: David called “Chloe let’s go” and she said, “No Daddy my name is C-C-C-Chloe.”

photo credit: theurchiness

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1. Christmas Stockings
2. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
3. Homemade Crayons

I was planning on sewing Christmas stockings this year. I had this great idea to make some really nice quilted ones. However, as I watched my Christmas project list grow before my eyes, I began to think that time-consuming project just might need to be simplified a little.

It was with that in mind that I came across this fantastic post from The Purl Bee for Simple Embroidered Stockings. Now, embroidery is not a talent I currently hold in my tool belt, so I overlooked that part. What I noticed about the post was how quick and simple the pattern was to sew the stockings. Sure enough, it only took one nap time to cut out and sew all three (a stark contrast to how long the quilted ones would have taken).

Of course, I used all fabric from my stash to make them so they didn’t cost me a thing. (A funny side note about that- once people know that you want scrap fabric, they can’t bring it to you fast enough. I have three 13-gallon bags that someone just added to my stash.)

Why I do what I do ~ I guess the girls forgot about Christmas stockings from last year because they keep telling me I made these wrong. They laugh and laugh and tell me “those socks are too big!”

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Related posts:

1. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
2. Easy Finger Puppets
3. No-Sew Felt Dora Map

As one of Chloe’s Christmas gifts, I’m making her a Dora Backpack and Map. I didn’t find any patterns online to make them how I wanted so I just decided to jump in and figure it out. I started with the map so I could get a quick boost of gratification before I began the backpack.

You need to understand something – while I enjoy creating things I am NOT any good at drawing. It’s not modesty – it is just a fact. To free-hand anything is a real challenge for me. If you are good at drawing then this project will be that much easier for you.  I had to go find a template for the Map face because that was essential to get right in order for it to look like the real thing – and there was no way I was going to try to draw it.

I went to Nick Jr.’s website and found this project, which includes backpack and map templates on the supplies list. I used those to create authentic-looking faces.

Here’s what I used:

• Craft felt – various colors
• Permanent black marker
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun/glue

Here’s what I did:

• I used a white rectangle of felt for the Map. I cut out all the face pieces, using the template. Each face piece should be traced with the black marker and keep that black outline.
• I glued the pupils to the eyeballs and then glued the face onto the map. I glued mine in the middle. If I did it again I would glue it to one side, so that way when you roll it up the face won’t be hidden.
• I chose little things that I thought I could make for the inside of the map. I didn’t use an episode. I thought it would be more fun for her to make up her own ideas. So I chose an apple tree, a bridge over a stream, a lake with a sailboat and a forest. As you can see, it is by no means professional-looking (because I had to free-hand all of those things) but you can at least tell what each of the items are.
• Once I cut the pieces out and played with how I wanted them arranged I glued them down.

That’s it! One thing to keep in mind – there is no room for error with the hot glue. Once you stick a piece on there – it is STUCK.

Overall I’m happy with they way it came out. I only had to purchase 3 pieces of felt for this project. The other colors were all from scraps. So this project cost less than $1 for me.

I hope to post about the Backpack (which will involve sewing) within the next week.

Why I do what I do ~ While running laps through the house a few days ago, Chloe stopped long enough to say, “Mom I need my running shoes to make me faster.”

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Related posts:

1. Homemade Crayons
2. Week Of Frugal Fall Ideas: Cinnamon Pinecones
3. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas

As we lead up to Christmas I’m going to be posting some gifts that I’m creating. Many of them were included in my 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas. This is one of them.

This idea comes from Blissfully Domestic. I was trying to think of some fun stocking stuffers for Chloe and this idea seemed perfect. My little girl is very artsy so I’m hoping she’ll love them! It took very little time and cost me nothing (OK, I used paper muffin liners – so it cost me those).

I gathered all the broken crayon pieces from the bottom of the crayon box (which is an old baby wipes container) and unwrapped them. Here’s what I ended up with:

I broke some of them in smaller pieces and filled 5 paper-lined muffin cups a little more than half way (you might think my muffin tin is gross looking – I call it well-loved).

I baked them at 275F degrees for 10 minutes and ended up with these:

I can’t wait to sew a cute little bag to put them in! I even tried them out – just to be sure they were as great as I was hoping and they are!

Some Thoughts:

• This would be a great gift from an older sibling to a younger sibling.
• This could also be a great birthday gift from your child to a friend.
• I wonder if you could make these in those bake-able silicone forms? Then you could make them in all sorts of shapes.

Why I do what I do ~ As I type this, my daughter is brushing my hair because she needs to “turn it into scribbly hair.” What is about to happen to me????

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Related posts:

1. 50+ Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
2. Homemade Caramel Popcorn
3. A Sort-Of Homemade Princess Costume